Experimental investigation on regulated and unregulated emissions of a diesel/methanol compound combustion engine with and without diesel oxidation catalyst

The use of methanol in combination with diesel fuel is an effective measure to reduce particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from in-use diesel vehicles. In this study, a diesel/methanol compound combustion (DMCC) scheme was proposed and a 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated direct-injection diesel engine modified to operate on the proposed combustion scheme. The effect of DMCC and diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) on the regulated emissions of total hydrocarbons (THC), carbon monoxide (CO), NOx and PM was investigated based on the Japanese 13 Mode test cycle. Certain unregulated emissions, including methane, ethyne, ethene, 1,3-butadiene, BTX (benzene, toluene, xylene), unburned methanol and formaldehyde were also evaluated based on the same test cycle. In addition, the soluble organic fraction (SOF) in the particulate and the particulate number concentration and size distribution were investigated at certain selected modes of operation. The results show that the DMCC scheme can effectively reduce NOx, particulate mass and number concentrations, ethyne, ethene and 1,3-butadiene emissions but significantly increase the emissions of THC, CO, NO₂, BTX, unburned methanol, formaldehyde, and the proportion of SOF in the particles. After the DOC, the emission of THC, CO, NO₂, as well as the unregulated gaseous emissions, can be significantly reduced when the exhaust gas temperature is sufficiently high while the particulate mass concentration is further reduced due to oxidation of the SOF.     

Emission reduction from diesel engine using fumigation methanol and diesel oxidation catalyst

This study is aimed to investigate the combined application of fumigation methanol and a diesel oxidation catalyst for reducing emissions of an in-use diesel engine. Experiments were performed on a 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated direct-injection diesel engine operating at a constant speed of 1800 rev/min for five engine loads.The experimental results show that at low engine loads, the brake thermal efficiency decreases with increase in fumigation methanol; but at high loads, it slightly increases with increase in fumigation methanol. The fumigation method results in a significant increase in hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) emissions, but decrease in nitrogen oxides (NO_x), smoke opacity and the particulate mass concentration. For the submicron particles, the total number of particles decreases. In all cases, there is little change in geometrical mean diameter of the particles. After catalytic conversion, the HC, CO, NO₂, particulate mass and particulate number concentrations were significantly reduced at medium to high engine loads; while the geometrical mean diameter of the particles becomes larger. Thus, the combined use of fumigation methanol and diesel oxidation catalyst leads to a reduction of HC, CO, NO_x, particulate mass and particulate number concentrations at medium to high engine loads.     

Investigation on the gaseous and particulate emissions of a compression ignition engine fueled with diesel-dimethyl carbonate blends

The effect of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) on the gaseous and particulate emissions of a diesel engine was investigated using Euro V diesel fuel blended with different proportions of DMC. Combustion analysis shows that, with the blended fuel, the ignition delay and the heat release rate in the premixed combustion phase increase, while the total combustion duration and the fuel consumed in the diffusion combustion phase decrease. Compared with diesel fuel, with an increase of DMC in the blended fuel, the brake thermal efficiency is slightly improved but the brake specific fuel consumption increases. On the emission side, CO increases significantly at low engine load but decreases at high engine load while HC decreases slightly. NO_x reduces slightly but the reduction is not statistically significant, while NO₂ increases slightly. Particulate mass and number concentrations decrease upon using the blended fuel while the geometric mean diameter of the particles shifts towards smaller size. Overall speaking, diesel-DMC blends lead to significant improvement in particulate emissions while the impact on CO, HC and NO_x emissions is small.     

Experimental investigation on regulated and unregulated emissions of a diesel engine fueled with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel blended with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Experiments were conducted on a 4-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine using ultra-low sulfur diesel, bi oesel and their blends, to investigate the regulated and unregulated emissions of the engine under five engine loads at an engine speed of 1800 rev/min. Blended fuels containing 19.6%, 39.4%, 59.4% and 79.6% by volume of biodiesel, corresponding to 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% by mass of oxygen in the blended fuel, were used. Biodiesel used in this study was converted from waste cooking oil.The following results are obtained with an increase of biodiesel in the fuel. The brake specific fuel consumption and the brake thermal efficiency increase. The HC and CO emissions decrease while NO_x and NO₂ emissions increase. The smoke opacity and particulate mass concentrations reduce significantly at high engine load. In addition, for submicron particles, the geometry mean diameter of the particles becomes smaller while the total number concentration increases. For the unregulated gaseous emissions, generally, the emissions of formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, toluene, xylene decrease, however, acetaldehyde and benzene emissions increase.The results indicate that the combination of ultra-low sulfur diesel and biodiesel from waste cooking oil gives similar results to those in the literature using higher sulfur diesel fuels and biodiesel from other sources.     

Experimental study on particulate and NOx emissions of a diesel engine fueled with ultra low sulfur diesel, RME-diesel blends and PME-diesel blends

Ultra low sulfur diesel and two different kinds of biodiesel fuels blended with baseline diesel fuel in 5% and 20% v/v were tested in a Cummins 4BTA direct injection diesel engine, with a turbocharger and an intercooler. Experiments were conducted under five engine loads at two steady speeds (1500 rpm and 2500 rpm). The study aims at investigating the engine performance, NO_x emission, smoke opacity, PM composition, PM size distribution and comparing the impacts of low sulfur content of biodiesel with ULSD on the particulate emission. The results indicate that, compared to base diesel fuel, the increase of biodiesel in blends could cause certain increase in both brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency. Compared with baseline diesel fuel, the biodiesel blends bring about more NO_x emissions. With the proportion of biodiesel increase in blends, the smoke opacity decreases, while total particle number concentration increases. Meanwhile the ULSD gives lower NO_x emissions, smoke opacity and total number concentration than those of baseline diesel fuel. In addition, the percentages of SOF and sulfate in particulates increase with biodiesel in blends, while the dry soot friction decreases obviously. Compared with baseline diesel fuel, the biodiesel blends increase the total nucleation number concentration, while ULSD reduces the total nucleation number concentration effectively, although they all have lower sulfur content. It means that, for ULSD, the lower sulfur content is the dominant factor for suppressing nucleation particles formation, while for biodiesel blends, lower volatile, lower aromatic content and higher oxygen content of biodiesel are key factors for improving the nucleation particles formation. The results demonstrate that the higher NO_x emission and total nucleation number concentration are considered as the big obstacles of the application of biodiesel in diesel engine.     

Experimental investigation of engine emissions with marine gas oil-oxygenate blends

This paper investigates the diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions with marine gas oil-alternative fuel additive. Marine gas oil (MGO) was selected as base fuel for the engine experiments. An oxygenate, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (DGM), and a biodiesel (BD) jatropha oil methyl ester (JOME) with a volume of 10% were blended with the MGO fuel. JOME was derived from inedible jatropha oil. Lower emissions with diesel-BD blends (soybean methyl ester, rapeseed methyl ester etc.) have been established so far, but the effect of MGO-BD (JOME) blends on engine performance and emissions has been a growing interest as JOME (BD) is derived from inedible oil and MGO is frequently used in maritime transports. No phase separation between MGO-DGM and MGO-JOME blends was found. The neat MGO, MGO-DGM and MGO-JOME blends are termed as MGO, Ox10 and B10 respectively. The experiments were conducted with a six-cylinder, four-stroke, turbocharged, direct-injection Scania DC 1102 (DI) diesel engine. The experimental results showed significant reductions in fine particle number and mass emissions, PM and smoke emissions with Ox10 and B10 fuels compared to the MGO fuel. Other emissions including total unburned hydrocarbon (THC), carbon monoxide (CO) and engine noise were also reduced with the Ox10 and B10 fuels, while maintaining similar brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and thermal efficiency with MGO fuel. Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, on the other hand, were slightly higher with the Ox10 and B10 fuels at high engine load conditions.     

Effect of intake air oxygen enrichment for improving engine performance and emissions control in diesel engine

Stringent emission regulations and health awareness about air pollution have led researchers to find alternative means of minimising emissions in diesel engines. In this article, the influence of oxygen enrichment is discussed to determine the effect on diesel engine performance, emission characteristics and combustion characteristics. Normal diesel and oxygen-enriched diesel are used in this experiment. The increase in oxygen concentration led to complete combustion, producing higher thermal efficiency and low harmful emissions. From the results, it is noted that oxygen-enriched diesel fuel showed reduction of CO, HC and smoke emissions, while NOx emission increased.

Abbreviations/Nomenclature DI: direct injection; NOx: oxides of nitrogen; O₂: oxygen; HC: hydrocarbon; PM: particulate matters; CO: carbon monoxide; CO₂: carbon dioxide     

Experimental study of diethyl ether addition on the performance and emissions of a diesel engine

Recently investigations were carried out on the utilisation of light fraction pyrolysis oil (LFPO) in diesel engine, which was obtained from a tyre recycling plant. The 40LFPO blend, which comprised 40% LFPO and 60% diesel composition gave better performance and lower emissions than the blends containing 20LFPO, 60LFPO and 80LFPO. The ignition delays of the blends were longer than that of diesel fuel, because of their lower cetane numbers. The aim of this investigation was to study effect the adding small quantities of Diethyl ether (DEE) whose cetane number is 125, to 40LFPO on the engine behaviour in terms of performance parameters and exhaust emissions. The percentage of DEE was varied from 1% to 4% in steps of 1% on a volume basis. The results of the performance and emission parameters of the engine run on the 40LFPO-DEE blends were evaluated, compared with the diesel operation of the same engine and presented in this article.     

Experimental investigations on the influence of properties of Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel on performance,combustion, and emission characteristics of a DI diesel engine

The current state of future energy and environmental crises has revitalised the need to find alternative sources of energy due to escalating oil prices and depleting oil reserves. To meet increasing energy requirements, there has been a growing interest in alternative fuels like biodiesel that can become a suitable diesel fuel substitute for compression ignition engine. Biodiesel offers a very promising alternative to diesel fuel, since they are renewable and have similar properties. Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil collected from different restaurants in the Nagapattinam region of South India was converted into methyl esters (biodiesel) by transesterification. Biodiesel produced from C. inophyllum oil was blended with diesel by different volume proportions (25%, 50%, and 75%). Biodiesel and its blends were tested on a direct injection (DI) diesel engine at a constant speed by varying loads from 0% to 100% in steps of 20% to analyse its performance, emission, and combustion characteristics. The results obtained were compared with that of diesel fuel. B25 (27.5%) showed better performance than diesel fuel (26.28%) at full load and B50 showed performances similar to diesel fuel. Smoke density of B25 was slightly (2.6%) higher than that of diesel at full load conditions. At full load, measured carbon monoxide emissions for B25 and B50 were 4% lower than that of diesel. Hydrocarbon emissions for B25 and B100 were 5.37% and 25.8% higher than that of diesel, respectively. Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emission was lower for all biodiesel blends. NO_x emissions of B100 and B75 were lower than that of diesel by 22.16% and 13.29% at full load, respectively. Combustion profile was smoother, and no knocking problem was observed while operating with biodiesel blends. B75 produced peak cylinder pressure.     

Experimental investigation on mahua methyl ester blended with diesel fuel in a compression ignition diesel engine

In this article, the mahua tree’s high importance in the present-day plantations is described and the preparation of mahua methyl ester (MME) from the raw mahua seed oil by the two methods of the transesterification process is described. The tested physical properties were compared with the requirement of ASTM D-6751. The obtained MME and its blends of B20, B40, B60, and B80 were investigated in an unmodified diesel engine. From the results of the performance, it has been observed that brake-specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency are slightly improved (B20 and B40) at part-load conditions and approach diesel at full-load conditions. From combustion analysis, it was seen that ignition delay was shorter for biodiesel and its blends compared with the diesel fuel. The emission characteristics of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and smoke opacity were reduced for all the fuel blends, but at high temperatures they undergo an endothermic reaction and produced various oxides of nitrogen.     

Detailed analysis on emission and performance characteristics of neat biofuel-fuelled diesel engine

ABSTRACT

There is an entanglement over the rapid exhaust of fossil fuel and soreness of environmental changes. Biofuels are acting as an alternative resource for petroleum products and also salve of emissions control and engine performance improvement. Scholars have seen the supreme use of bio-fuel apparent, as it will influence greenhouse effect. Investigation results show the diminished heating value in congruence with conventional pabulum, so it had depleted more in brake mean effective-fuel power ratio and proliferated NO_x compared with diesel fuel. The article mainly focuses on the selection – process of biofuel and analysis of performance (BSFC, EGT and brake thermal efficiency), emissions (CO, NO_x, CO₂, PM and HC) and combustion (NHR and CP) of the engine are exclusively discussed and summarised. Finally, stability, opportunity, and restraint of a selection of alternative fuel and investigation and study on the engine were asserted to guide further future exploration and evolution in that domain.     

Emission and performance analysis of pentanol-diesel blends in unmodified diesel engine

ABSTRACT

In order to improve its performance and emission parameters, higher alcohols are mixed to neat diesel. Higher alcohol (Pentanol) has the capacity for oxygen enrichment during combustion process which put into the catalytic reaction and gets better the combustion process. Pentanol is blended with neat diesel at different measured volumes of 15%, 25% and 35%. Three blended fuels prepared by volume of 85% of diesel and 15% of pentanol (D85P15), 75% of diesel and 25% of Pentanol (D75P25) and 65% of diesel and 35% of Pentanol (D65P35) respectively. Effect of emission and performance parameters have been studied in an unmodified diesel engine propelled with pentanol-diesel blends at various proportions. Pentanol acts as a catalyst (oxidising) and it was helpful in reducing carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions. It is found that a considerable reduction in NO_x emission and it also reduces fuel consumption which increases in brake thermal efficiency.     

Evaporation rate and engine performance analysis of coated diesel engine using Raphanus sativus biodiesel and its diesel blends

An experimental investigation to measure the evaporation rates, PSZ-coated engine performance and emissions of radish biodiesel (Methyl Ester of radish oil) and its blends in different volumetric proportions with diesel is presented. The thermo-physical properties of all the fuel blends have been measured and presented. Evaporation rates of neat radish biodiesel, neat diesel and their bends have been measured under slow convective environment of air velocity of 0.2?m/s with a constant temperature of 200°C. Evaporation constants have been determined by using the droplet regression rate data. The neat fuels and fuel blends have been utilised in a test engine with different load conditions to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of the fuels. From the observed evaporation, performance and emissions characteristics, it can be suggested that a blend of B25–B75 could be optimally used in coated diesel engine settings without any modifications on it.     

Influence of dimethoxymethane addition on performance,emission and combustion characteristics of the diesel engine

This paper assesses the effects of dimethoxymethane (DMM) blends on combustion characteristics, fuel economy, emissions and engine’s power. Experiments were carried out on a single-cylinder, four-stroke compression ignition engine of direct injection with volume fractions of DMM blends of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% v/v starting from base diesel. Experimental results suggest that 20% DMM blended with diesel achieved better performance in terms of efficiency as well as in exhaust emissions. Carbon monoxide emission levels, hydrocarbon and smoke are reduced considerably with DMM additions, while the oxides of nitrogen emission in exhaust increase due to higher in-cylinder temperature. The oxygen content in the DMM blends plays a greater role in the combustion process compared to neat diesel fuel. The combustion profile was smoother, and no knocking was experienced while operating with DMM blends. Also, it is observed that addition of DMM in diesel shortens the ignition delay and total combustion duration.     

Performance and emission analysis of diesel engine with design modifications on piston crown

The present work aims to enhance the performance of the existing diesel engine by modifying the piston design. Swirl piston is used to induce turbulence as an active enhancement technique. The engine is run at 250 bar injection pressure and 17.5 compression ratio by varying the injection timings. A stirrer is introduced at the top of the piston so as to inculcate more turbulence to incoming charge that improves the fuel vaporisation rate. Whirling motion is created in the combustion chamber by rotating the blades on the cavity/bowl of the reciprocating piston head. A simple link mechanism is provided to convert the oscillatory motion of connecting rod into the rotary motion of the vane. The experimental result clears that the brake-specific fuel consumption is reduced by 8.7%, brake thermal efficiency is enhanced by 9.4%, 11.8% of CO emissions are controlled and NO _x emissions are controlled by 27% is observed with the modified piston compared to the normal piston at retarded injection timing.     

Enhancement in the performance of a diesel engine fuelled with Pongamia methyl ester and n-butanol as oxygenated additive

The present paper investigates the performance and emission characteristics of a single-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine fuelled with Pongamia methyl ester (PME) and n-butanol, at different loading conditions. Two blends of n-butanol–PME (10% and 20% n-butanol with PME on a volumetric basis) were prepared. The experimental results showed a significant improvement in the brake thermal efficiency of the engine with the blends and were found to increase with increasing percentage of n-butanol in the blends. The blended fuels also show lower emission such as carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and smoke opacity. However, unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emission was found to be slightly increased. Thus, it is concluded that the biodiesel with 20% n-butanol blend showed better results with respect to efficiency and emissions point of view compared with biodiesel.     

Emissions characteristics of a diesel engine operating on biodiesel and biodiesel blended with ethanol and methanol

Euro V diesel fuel, pure biodiesel and biodiesel blended with 5%, 10% and 15% of ethanol or methanol were tested on a 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated direct-injection diesel engine. Experiments were conducted under five engine loads at a steady speed of 1800 r/min. The study aims to investigate the effects of the blended fuels on reducing NO_x and particulate. On the whole, compared with Euro V diesel fuel, the blended fuels could lead to reduction of both NO_x and PM of a diesel engine, with the biodiesel-methanol blends being more effective than the biodiesel-ethanol blends. The effectiveness of NO_x and particulate reductions is more effective with increase of alcohol in the blends. With high percentage of alcohol in the blends, the HC, CO emissions could increase and the brake thermal efficiency might be slightly reduced but the use of 5% blends could reduce the HC and CO emissions as well. With the diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), the HC, CO and particulate emissions can be further reduced.     

Emission reduction potential of using gas-to-liquid and dimethyl ether fuels on a turbocharged diesel engine

A study of engine performance characteristics and both of regulated (CO, HC, NO_x, and smoke) and unregulated (ultrafine particle number, mass concentrations and size distribution) emissions for a turbocharged diesel engine fueled with conventional diesel, gas-to-liquid (GTL) and dimethyl ether (DME) fuels respectively at different engine loads and speeds have been carried out. The results indicated that fuel components significantly affected the engine performance and regulated/unregulated emissions. GTL exhibited almost the same power and torque output as diesel, while improved fuel economy. GTL significantly reduced regulated emissions with average reductions of 21.2% in CO, 15.7% in HC, 15.6% in NO_x and 22.1% in smoke in comparison to diesel, as well as average reductions in unregulated emissions of total ultrafine particle number (N_tot) and mass (M_tot) emissions by 85.3% and 43.9%. DME can significantly increase torque and power, compared with the original diesel engine, as well as significantly reduced regulated emissions of 40.1% in HC, 48.2% in NO_x and smoke free throughout all the engine conditions. However, N_tot for DME is close to that for diesel. The reason is that the accumulation mode particle number emissions for DME are very low due to the characteristics of oxygen content and no C-C bond, which promotes the processes of nucleation and condensation of the semi-volatile compounds in the exhaust gas, as a result, a lot of nucleation mode particles produce.     

Effect of TiO2 and nozzle geometry on diesel emissions fuelled with biodiesel blends

In this present study, the compression ignition engine was designed to run on CIME (Calophyllum inophyllum methyl ester) biodiesel with nanoparticles. The TiO₂ nanoparticle is added to the biodiesel in the form of nanofluid at concentration levels of 100?ppm whereas ethanox is added at levels of 100, 200 and 500?ppm. The nanoparticle and the ethanox are dispersed by the ultrasonication process. The addition of nanofluid reduces the particulate emission like nitrogen oxide (NO_x) at 100% load. The efficiency is better and emission is reduced owing to the influence of explosion of water molecules present in the biodiesel. We found ethanox to be a superlative nanofluid to reduce the emission of toxic gas at appreciable levels. We have witnessed a 20% reduction in emission of NO_x and 10% reduction of other particulate emission. In addition, the exit geometry of exhaust is modified from a circular shape to an elliptical one and the consequence of the geometry is calculated.     

An experimental investigation of performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine with blends of cottonseed oil methyl ester with cold and hot EGR

An experimental investigation of diesel engine using cottonseed oil biodiesel and its blends with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) techniques has been carried out. An optimum nozzle opening pressure of 250 bar and lower static injection timing of 20° before top dead centre (bTDC) are considered because it has been observed that these conditions only give minimum emissions. From the test results, it could be noted that there is an increasing trend of emission characteristics of HC, smoke density and NO_x for both cold and hot EGR for all blends of fuel with respect to brake power. As compared with cold EGR, the hot EGR gives lower emissions at all loads. In hot EGR, among the blends, at no-load and full-load conditions, the B100 gives the highest reduction in NO_x of 14.23% and 7.91%, respectively. However, the use of EGR leads to a rise in soot emission because of soot–NO_x trade-off for both the cases.